A shooting incident occurred at the Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale on Monday afternoon, leaving an 18-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds. Glendale Police are currently searching for three suspects who fled the scene. The incident took place around 4 p.m. at the popular shopping and dining area near Loop 101 and Glendale Avenue. Police responded to shooting reports. They discovered that two groups of people were involved in an argument, one inside a car and the other outside.
According to Glendale Police, the altercation escalated when the occupants of a light-colored sedan began firing shots. The 18-year-old victim was struck multiple times as the suspects quickly fled the scene. It remains unclear how many individuals inside the car were armed. Injured, the victim managed to run to the north side of the parking lot, where a passerby noticed him and immediately provided medical assistance. The passerby, who was armed but did not fire at anyone, also pointed his gun at the suspect’s vehicle. The victim is currently in critical condition, although his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. Glendale Police are now searching for the three suspects involved, but no descriptions have been provided.
Eyewitnesses who were in close proximity to the shooting shared their accounts of the incident. One witness reported hearing the sound of screeching brakes but no yelling before the shots were fired. Another witness observed two males being chased and shot at, with one of them limping and losing his shoe in the parking lot. This is not the first shooting incident to occur at Westgate. On June 4 of this year, police responded to a reported gunfight, although no injuries were reported. In the summer of 2020, a 20-year-old named Armando Hernandez Jr. admitted to carrying out a shooting at Westgate, intending to harm ten people. Hernandez claimed he had been bullied and sought to gain respect. One victim, a 19-year-old man, was critically injured, while a 16-year-old girl and a 30-year-old woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Glendale Police spokesperson Jose Santiago expressed concern over the incident, highlighting the popularity of Westgate as an entertainment, dining, and shopping destination. He acknowledged that the situation could have been far worse given the potential for a larger-scale tragedy.